5 

.A/5 



A REPORT 



MADE TO THE 



BOARD OF TRUSTEES 



UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 



AT A STATED MEETING 



ON TUESDAY THE 4TH OF NOVEMBER, 1834, 



CONCERNING THE 

UNIVERSITIES 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE, 

IN ENGLAND. 



/ 



BY P. H. NICK LIN. 



PHILADELPHIA : 



JOSEPH AND WILLIAM KITE, PRINTERS. 

1834. 



REPORT 



UNIVERSITIES 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 



Conformably to a resolution adopted by the Trus- 
tees of the University of Pennsylvania, at a stated 
meeting held on the first of October 1833, I visited 
the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, 
remaining at the former place fifteen, and at the 
latter ten days. 

I became acquainted with many gentlemen, mem- 
bers and officers of both universities ; who, besides 
extending to me the rites of a kind hospitality, evinced 
the greatest readiness to furnish me with university 
and collegiate information for the benefit of our Insti- 
tution. 

Most of the information contained in this report 
respecting the constitutions of the universities and 
colleges, is compiled from books published by their 
authority ; but that which relates to the course of 
study and manner of teaching was furnished to me by 
members of the universities, among whom I am par- 
ticularly indebted to the Reverend Temple Chevallier,^ 



REPORT ON 



of Cambridge, and the Reverend Francis Jeune, of 
Oxford. 

The English Universities are corporate bodies 
formed by the union of many colleges and halls. In 
Oxford there are twenty colleges and five halls. The 
colleges are bodies corporate; the halls are not corpo- 
rate, and their property is held in trust for them by 
the university. In other respects they possess the 
same privileges as the colleges. The universities 
alone possess the right of granting degrees. 

The rich collections in literature, science, and the 
arts, possessed by these institutions, afford every facili- 
ty for the education of youth, and for the formation of 
ripe scholars ; and the learned, moral, and religious 
society, consisting of the masters, fellows, and tutors 
of the colleges, cannot fail to be of great benefit to 
those who are in statu pupillari. 

Oxford possesses two great libraries, one of which, 
the Bodleian, contains four hundred thousand volumes 
and two hundred thousand pamphlets, and many 
valuable pictures, models, statues, and relics of ancient 
art. The other was founded by Doctor John Rad- 
clifie, who bequeathed nearly $300,000 for its benefit. 
It has been appropriated by a late resolution of the 
trustees of Doctor Radcliffe's will, to the reception of 
books in medicine and natural history. The different 
colleges also have libraries of their own, some of 
which contain more than forty thousand volumes ; 
and many of them possess valuable pictures by the 
old masters. Christ Church College, Oxford, was 
presented by one gentleman with a collection of paint- 
ings which cost him $170,000. 

There are in Oxford five hundred and forty-nine 
fellows, and in Cambridge four hundred and thirty, 
most of whom are resident, and are constantly em- 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. O 

ployed in promoting the interests of science, educa- 
tion, and religion. 

The accommodations for the students are very- 
comfortable and convenient ; in most of the colleges each 
student having two or three rooms ; being a sitting 
room, a study, and a dormitory. The fellows have 
handsome suites of apartments in the college edifices, 
commons free of charge, and receive annual dividends 
in money from the collegiate estates. No compulsory 
duty is attached to the fellow^ships ; but most of the 
incumbents are employed, either as university officers 
or in teaching the college classes as public tutors, or 
individual students as private tutors. The collegiate 
meals are taken in a large hall. The master or vice 
master presides at the principal table, and the meals, 
which do not last long, are conducted with great 
decorum. The commons are very good, and each 
person can suit his own taste, w^ithin a reasonable 
limit of expense, by ordering what he likes from the 
butler, who keeps an account with each individual. 

At Oxford, theolog}^ moral philosophy, and the 
belles lettres, are cultivated w^ith more attention than 
natural philosophy ;*^ at Cambridge, the contrary is the 
case. 

The state of morals and religion is good, and said to 
be improving in both institutions. 

There is at Cambridge a philosophical society, 
that has obtained much celebrity by its valuable 
volumes of transactions ; and the Oxonians, three 
years since, established the Ashmolean Society, for 
the purpose of cultivating a taste in their university 
for the different branches of natural philosophy. 

* Tills terra includes all the brancLes of mathematics. 



b REPORT ON 

A DESCRIPTION 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 

AND 

THE COURSE OF STUDY PURSUED IN ITS COLLEGES. 

Cambridge is supposed to take its name from the 
river Cam and the bridge over it. 

The time of the origin of the university has not 
been precisely settled by historians and antiquaries. 
Some of the latter affirm that it was founded by Can- 
taber, a Spaniard, three hundred and seventy-five 
years before the birth of Christ; but it is the most 
generally received opinion, that Sigebert, King of the 
East Angles, with the assistance of Bishop Felix, 
founded a school at Cambridge six hundred and thirty 
years after the birth of Christ. 

At first the students had no public lodging nor 
commons, but lodged and boarded with the inhabit- 
ants of the town, and carried on their disputations in 
halls or hostels. Both Cambridge and Oxford were 
universities long before they had any colleges forming 
part of the corporations. 

The prosperity of the halls increased so rapidly, 
that pious persons were induced to build and endow 
colleges for the accommodation of the students, and to 
establish professorships for their instruction; and 
some of the halls were incorporated with the colleges 
and formed part of their foundations. 

The first authentic charter was granted to the 
university by Henry III. a. d. 1230. 

The university of Cambridge is a Society of Stu- 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 7 

dents in the liberal arts and sciences, incorporated by 
the name of the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars, of 
the University of Cambridge. 

This institution consists of the union of fourteen 
colleges and three halls, being societies for the acqui- 
sition of learning, and devoted to the service of the 
church and state. 

All these colleges and halls have been founded since 
the first year of Edward L, and are maintained by the 
endowments of their several founders and benefactors. 

Each college is a body corporate, governed by its 
own statutes, but controlled by the paramount laws 
of the university. 

Each of the colleges and halls furnishes officers to 
the university, and members of the senate or legisla- 
tive body. 

All masters of arts, or doctors of divinity, civil law 
or physic, having their names upon the college boards, 
holding any university office, or being resident in the 
town of Cambridge, have votes in the senate. 

The senate is divided into two houses, the respec- 
tive members of which are called regents and non- 
regents, with a view to some particular offices allotted 
to the junior division, by the statutes of the univer- 
sity. 

Masters of arts of less than five years' standing, and 
doctors of less than two, compose the regent or upper 
house ; otherwise called the White Hood House. All 
the rest constitute the non-regent or lower house; 
otherwise called the Black Hood House. But doctors 
of more than two years' standing and the public ora- 
tor may vote in either house. 

There is also a council called the caput, chosen 
annually on the twelfth of October, by which every 



8 REPORT ON 

university grace must be approved before it can be 
voted in the senate. 

The caput consists of the vice chancellor, a doctor 
in each of the faculties, divinity, civil law and physic, 
and tvs^o masters of arts, who are representatives of 
the regent and non-regent houses. The vice chancel- 
lor is ex officio a member of the caput. The other 
members are chosen in the following manner. The 
vice chancellor and the two proctors severally nomi- 
nate five persons, and out of the fifteen, the heads of 
colleges, doctors and scrutators choose five. 

The executive branch of the university is commit- 
ted to the following officers. 

A Chancellor, who is the head of the whole uni- 
versity, and presides over all cases relating to that 
body. He possesses all authority within the precincts, 
except in matters of mayhem and felony. 

A High Steward, who has special power to take 
trial of scholars impeached of felony within the limits 
of the university, and to hold a leet according to 
charter and custom. 

^A Vice Chancellor, who is elected annually on 
the fourth of November by the senate. His office, in 
the absence of the chancellor, embraces the execution 
of the chancellor's powers. 

He must be the head of some college, and during 
office he acts as a magisirate for the university and 
county. 

A Commissary, who is an officer under the chancel- 
lor. He holds a court of record for all privileged 
persons and scholars under the denomination of M. A. 

A Public Orator, who is the voice of the senate, 

* This officer is the acting head of the university, and performs near- 
ly all the duties of chancellor, who is not a resident officer. The Duke 
of Gloucester, the king's cousin, has been chancellor since 1811. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 9 

upon all public occasions, writes, reads, and records 
letters from the body of the senate, and presents to all 
honorary degrees with an appropriate speech. This 
is considered one of the most honourable of the uni- 
versity offices. 

An Assessor, specially appointed by grace of the 
senate to assist the vice chancellor in his court, in 
causis forensibus et domesticis. 

Two Proctors, who are peace officers elected an- 
nually. It is their duty to attend to the discipline 
and behaviour of all persons in statu pupillari ; and 
to be present at all congregations* of the senate, 
to stand in scrutiny with the chancellor or vice 
chancellor, to take the open suffiages of the house, 
to read them, and to pronounce the assent or dis- 
sent accordingly; to read the graces in the regent 
house, to take secretly the assent and dissent, and 
openly to pronounce the same. They must be mas- 
ters of arts of two years standing, and are regents 
by virtue of their office. 

A Librarian, who manages the university library. 

A Registrary, who is obliged, in person or by 
deputy, to attend all congregations, to give direc- 
tions for the due form of such graces as are to be 
propounded; to receive them when passed in both 
houses and to register them in the university re- 
cords. 

Two Taxors, who must be masters of arts and 
are regents ex officio. They regulate the markets, 
and examine the assize of bread, weights and mea- 
sures, and call all abuses therein into the Commissa- 
ry's Court. 

Two Scrutators, who are non-regents, and whose 

* Meetings of the senate. 



10 REPORT ON 

duty it is to attend all congregations, to read the 
graces in the lower house, to gather the votes secretly, 
or take them openly in scrutiny, and publicly to 
pronounce the assent or dissent of that house. 

Two Moderators, nominated by the proctors, and 
appointed by a grace of the senate. They act as the 
proctors' substitutes in the philosophical schools, su- 
perintending alternately the exercises and disputa- 
tions in philosophy, and the examinations for the 
degree of B. A. 

Three Esquire Bedells, whose office is to attend 
the vice chancellor, whom they precede with their 
silver maces upon all public occasions and solemnities. 
To attend the doctors present in the regent house, by 
bringing them to open scrutiny, there to deliver their 
suffi-ages either by word or writing, according to the 
order of the statutes ; to receive from the caput the 
graces delivered unto them, and to deliver them first 
to the scrutators in the lower house, and thence, if 
they be granted, to carry them to the proctors in the 
upper house ; to attend the professors and respondents 
in the * three faculties from their colleges to the schools, 
and during the continuance of the several acts ; to 
collect fines and penalties from all members of the 
university ; and to summon to the Chancellor's Court, 
all members of the senate. 

The university printer, the library keeper, the under 
library keeper and the school keeper are elected by the 
senate. 

The Yeoman Bedell is appointed by letters patent 
under the hand and seal of the chancellor. 

The University -Marshal is appointed in the 
same manner by the vice-chancellor. 

* Divinity, law and physic. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 



11 



There are two courts of law, viz. the Consistory- 
Court of the Chancellor, and the Consistory Court of 
the Commissary. 

The university sends two members to parliament 
who are chosen by the senate. 

The legal counsel are appointed by grace of the 
senate. 

The solicitor is appointed by the vice-chancellor. 

There are university professors, who have stipends 
allowed them from various sources ; some from the 
university chest, others from government, and others 
from estates left for that purpose. The annual in- 
come of the university chest is about sixteen thousand 
pounds, arising from various kinds of permanent pro- 
perty. 

The annual expenditure of the university is about 
twelve thousand pounds, under the direction of the 
vice-chancellor of the year ; and the accounts are 
examined by three auditors appointed annually by 
the senate. 

The terms of the university are three. Michael- 
mas or October term begins on the tenth of October, 
and ends on the sixteenth of December. Lent or Janu- 
ary term begins on the thirteenth of January , and ends on 
the Friday before Palm Sunday. Easter or midsum- 
mer term begins on the eleventh day after Easter day, 
and ends on the Friday after Commencement-day. 
Commencement-day is always the first Tuesday in 
July. 

The colleges were founded by different individuals, 
all of whom in the first place enjoined the cultivation 
of religion, and next to that, polite literature and the 
sciences. 

The statutes of some of the colleges require the 
fellows to be born in England, in particular counties, 



12 REPORT ON 

districts, or dioceses ; but the fellowships of St. Johns, 
Sidney, Downing, and Trinity colleges, and Clare 
and Trinity halls are perfectly open to all competitors. 
The following rule exists with regard to all the col- 
leges : whosoever hath one English parent, although 
he be born in another country, shall be esteemed as if 
born in that county to which his English parent be- 
longed. But if both parents were English, he shall be 
reckoned of that county to which his father belonged. 

Orders in the Colleges. 

1. A head of a college or house, who is generally a 
doctor in divinity ; excepting of Trinity Hall, Caius 
College, and Downing College, where they may be 
doctors in civil law or physic. The head of King's 
is called provost ; of Queen's, president ; of all the 
rest, master. 

2. Fellows, who are generally doctors in divinity, 
civil law or physic ; bachelors in divinity, masters or 
bachelors of arts ; some few bachelors in civil law or 
physic, as at Trinity Hall and Caius College. The 
number of fellowships in the university is four hundred 
and thirty. 

3. Noblemen graduates, doctors in the several fac- 
ulties, bachelors in divinity (who have been masters 
of arts), and masters of arts, who are not on the foun- 
dations, but whose names are kept on the boards for 
the purpose of being members of the senate. 

4. Graduates, who are neither members of the sen- 
ate, nor in statu pupillari, are bachelors in divinity, 
called four-and-twenty-men, or ten-year men. They 
are allowed by the ninth Elizabeth, if they have been 
admitted at any college when above twenty-four 
years old^ to take the degree of bachelor in divinity. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 13 

after their names have remained on the boards ten 
years. 

5. Bachelors in civil law and physic. 

6. Bachelors of arts, who are in statu pupillari, 
and pay for tuition, whether resident or not, and gen- 
erally keep their names on the boards, either as candi- 
dates for the fellowships, or to become members of the 
senate. Some of these are called bachelor common- 
ers, from the privilege allowed them of dining with 
the fellows. 

7. Fellow-commoners, who are generally the 
younger sons of the nobility, or young men of fortune, 
and have the privilege of dining at the table of the 
fellows, whence their appellation. 

8. Pensioners and scholars pay for their commons, 
rooms, &c. ; but the latter are on the foundation, and 
read the graces in hall, (or dining room) lessons in 
chapel, &c. The number of scholarships and exhib- 
itions in the university is above eight hundred and 
thirty. 

9. Sizars are generally men of inferior fortune. 
They usually have ther commons free, and receive 
various emoluments. 

The offices of chancellor and high steward are 
merely nominal, and do not impose upon the incum- 
bents the necessity of residence ; almost all the duties 
being performed by the vice-chancellor and the deputy 
high steward. 

The university professorships subsist on founda- 
tions, for the most part established by munificent in- 
dividuals, yielding salaries to the respective profes- 
sions varying from forty to four hundred pounds. 
Each professor delivers annually a course of public 
lectures, attendance on which is entirely optional 
with the students. Those who attend generally pay 



14 REPORT ON 

three guineas for the first course, and two guineas for 
the second, and afterwards are admitted gratis. 

The following professorships exist in the University 
of Cambridge. 

Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity ; found- 
ed by the mother of Henry the Seventh; salary twenty 
marks, augmented by James the first with the recto- 
rial tythes of Terrington, Norfolk. Election biennial ; 
electors, the chancellor or vice chancellor, doctors, 
inceptors and bachelors in divinity, who have been 
regents in arts. 

Bishop Marsh's Lectures, on divinity. 

Regius Professor of Divinity, founded by Henry 
the Eighth, with a stipend of forty pounds, augment- 
ed by James the First, with the rectory of Somer- 
sham, Hunts. 

Regius Professor of the Civil Law, founded by 
Henry the Eighth, salary forty pounds. The lec- 
tures are read in the combination room of Trinity 
Hall for three successive terms. The fee is five guin- 
eas for the first course and afterwards gratis. No 
person can be admitted to the degree of bachelor in 
the civil law without producing to the caput a certi- 
ficate of his having attended the lectures on civil law 
for three terms. Every student in civil law must 
pass a satisfactory examination. 

Regius Professor of Physic, founded by Henry 
the Eighth, tenable for life ; salary forty pounds. 
Fee for the first course, five guineas, afterwards gra- 
tis. Candidates for M. B. must produce a certifi- 
cate of diligent attendance on a complete course of 
these lectures. 

Regius Professor of Hebrew ; founded by Henry 
the Eighth ; salary, forty pounds. 

Regius Professor of Greek, founded by Henry 
the Eighth, salary, forty pounds. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 15 

Professor of Arabic, founded by Sir Thomas 
Adams; salary forty pounds. Electors, the vice- 
chancellor and heads of houses. 

The Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic ; ap- 
pointed by the Lord Almoner, and the stipend, (fifty 
pounds per annum) paid out of the Almonry bounty. 

LucAsiAN Professor of Mathematics ; founded in 
1663 by Henry Lucas, Esq. M. P. for the university, 
and endowed w^ith an estate in Bedfordshire. 

Professor of Casuistry ; founded in 1683, by 
John Knightbridge, D. D. and augmented by Dr. 
Smoult, value seventy pounds per annum. 

Professor of Chemistry ; founded by the univer- 
sity in *1 703. The salary is one hundred pounds, 
which is paid by the Lords Commissioners of his Ma- 
jesty's Treasury, on exhibiting a certificate of the 
delivery of a course of lectures. 

Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Phi- 
losophy ; founded in 1704, by Doctor Plume, Arch- 
deacon of Rochester. The professor is also superin- 
tendent of the observatory, and receives from various 
sources five hundred pounds per annum. 

Professor of Anatomy ; founded by the university 
in 1707. Salary one hundred pounds. Fee for at- 
tending the first course, five guineas, afterwards gra- 
tis. Attendance on these lectures is obligatory on 
candidates for medical degrees ; who have an oppor- 
tunity of dissecting in private. 

Professor of Modern History; founded by 
George the First in 1724. Salary four hundred 
pounds. Noblemen and fellow-commoners may at- 
tend on paying the fees customary for other lectures ; 
and all private tutors, bachelors, and undergraduates 
have free admission. 

Professor of Botany ; founded by the university 



IB- REPORT ON 

in 1724. Salary, two hundred pounds, paid by gov- 
ernment on condition of delivering a course of lec- 
tures. 

Professor of Geology; founded by Dr. Wood- 
ward, in 1727. Value one hundred pound per annum. 

Professor of Astronomy and Geometry ; founded 
by Thomas Lowndes, Esquire, in 1749. Endowed 
w^ith an estate of about three hundred pounds per 
annum. 

NoRRisiAN Professor of Divinity ; founded by 
John Norris, Esquire, of Whitton in Norfolk, 1760. 
Salary, one hundred and five pounds. 

Professor of Natural and Experimental Philo- 
sophy ; founded by the Reverend Richard JSckson, 
in 1783. Salary, one hundred and sixty pounds. 

Downing Professor of the Laws of England; 
founded in pursuance of the will of Sir George Down- 
ing, in 1800. Salary, two hundred pounds. 

Downing Professor of Medicine; salary, two 
hundred pounds. 

Professor of Mineralogy ; founded by the univer- 
sity, and endowed by government with a salary of 
one hundred pounds. 

Professor of Political Economy. 

Professor of Music 

Besides the above mentioned, the university has 
the under mentioned foundations : 

Lady Margaret's Preacher; who is required by 
his office to preach a conscio ad clerum before the 
university, on the day preceding Easter Term. Sti- 
pend, ten pounds. 

Sadlerian Lecturers. In 1710, Lady Sadler found- 
ed seventeen Algebra lectureships, one for each col- 
lege. Stipend, forty pounds each, except for Eman- 
uel College, which is sixty pounds. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 



17 



Mr. Hulse's Foundations ; being two scholarships 
at St. John's College ; The Hulsean Prize ; the Chris- 
tian Advocate, and the Christian Preacher; all of 
which have considerable stipends from estates given 
by the Rev. John Hulse. . 

Two Travelling Bachelors ; founded by William 
Worts. Salary, one hundred pounds each. Office 
tenable for three years, during which period the 
bachelors must travel in foreign countries, and write 
during their travels two Latin letters each, descrip- 
tive of what they have seen, which are laid before 
the senate, and afterwards deposited in the public 
library. 

There are also a number of annual prizes for per- 
sons who are very distinguished in particular branch- 
es, consisting of gold medals, money, or books. An- 
nual amount, thirteen hundred pounds. 

The following are university scholarships. 

Lord Craven's two classical scholar- 
ships, .... £25 each. 
Battie's scholarship. 



Browne's, " 

Davies', '' 

Bell's eight " , 

Pitt Scholarship, 

Tyrwhitt's six Hebrew scholarships, £25 each 



£18 
£21 

£30 

£57 each. 



Crosse's three Theological, 



£21 each. 



There are one hundred and fifteen grammar schools 
in England and Wales, which have six hundred and 
twenty-eight scholarships and exhibitions in this uni- 
versity. Some of these scholarships and exhibitions 
are also open to the university of Oxford. The annu- 
al value of these varies from two pounds thirteen shil- 
lings and four pence, to one hundred and fifty pounds. 

3 



18 REPORT ON 

The school of Christ's Hospital, London, has seven of 
ninety pounds. 

Rishworth, Yorkshire, has two of £150 
Rugby, Warwickshire " fourteen of 70 
St. Paul's, London " nine of 100 

Tunbridge, Kent, " sixteen of 100 

There are seventy-two exhibitions in the gift of the 
different mechanical companies in London. 

I am indebted to the Rev. Temple Chevallier for 
the following account of the mode and course of col- 
lege instruction. 

The college instruction is conducted by public tu- 
tors of the respective colleges by way of lecture and 
examination; the lecture of one day unfolding the 
subject for the examination of the next. The public 
tutors are appointed by the heads of their respective 
colleges, and are supported by an annual payment 
from each student. 

The attendance of the students upon the lectures of 
the college tutors is compulsory ; but they are not 
obliged to attend the lectures delivered by the univer- 
sity professors. It is very common for the students to 
receive instruction from private tutors, who follow 
the same general system of instruction, because all 
the candidates for university mathematical honours in 
one year, submit to the same examination. 

A private tutor has seldom more than six or eight 
pupils, because it is customary to devote an hour a 
day to each. 

The fellows are generally engaged in instructing^ 
either as public or private tutors ; but they are not 
compelled to assist in the education of undergraduates. 
All undergraduates are obliged to study enough to 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 19 

ensure their passing the university examinations for 
degrees. 

The inducement to study is the absolute openness 
of all university distinctions. Every honour is open 
to the best competitor, without the possibility of 
favour or the interference of interest ; and they lead to 
all the posts in the university which confer rank or 
emolument, and sometimes to the highest offices in 
church and state. 

A great proportion of the most distinguished Eng- 
lish lawyers have signalized themselves in the contest 
for mathematical honours at Cambridge- 

The annual college examinations, and the stipendi- 
ary scholarships, open to competition, are also induce- 
ments to study. 

Undergraduates are usually admitted at the ages 
of seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen, and a few at a 
a still later period of life. 

They are regularly admitted before the month of 
July in each year, and must produce certificates from 
a master of arts of Cambridge or Oxford, that they 
are qualified for admission. A student begins to re- 
side the following October, and his studies for the first 
year embrace some classical subjects, and Euclid, Al- 
gebra and Trigonometry. In the month of March, 
of the second year, the university requires him to 
pass " the previous examination," in one of the Gos- 
pels in Greek, in some Greek and Latin book, and 
in Paley's Evidences of Christianity. 

The classical lectures of the second year are 
more advanced than those of the first, and the 
mathematical lectures, for those who study for 
mathematical honours, embrace mechanics, hydro- 
statics, dynamics, the differential and integral cal- 
culus, and Newton's Principia. 



20 



REPORT ON 



In the third year, the classical subjects are 
nearly the same, and the mathematical subjects are 
astronomy, plane and physical ; the higher part of 
optics and dynamics ; the figure of the earth ; theory 
of the tides, &c. 

Many of the subjects required for the highest ^ 
honours in mathematical science are, however, scarcely 
touched upon in the college mathematical lectures. 

After a young man has resided ten terms, which 
embraces a period of three years and a quarter, his 
examination for first degree comes on. 

If he is simply a candidate for a degree, without 
an academical honour, he is examined in the first six 
books of the Iliad, in the first six books of the 
iEneid, in Paley's Evidences of Christianity, in Pa- 
ley's Moral Philosophy, in the first four books of 
Euclid, in arithmetic, and the elements of algebra. 

If he aspires to a mathematical honour, he will be 
previously tested to discover for which class he is fit- 
ted. There are four of these classes, and all the ques- 
tions are given to the candidates on printed papers. 
A number of the examination papers are in the library 
of the University of Pennsylvania, which, on being 
consulted, will furnish a correct notion of the range 
which the candidates are expected to have taken in 
mathematical and physical science. 

Before the examination begins, the four examiners 
meet, and determine how much credit or how many 
marks, shall be given for a correct answer to each 
question. 

When the papers of each candidate are examined, 
the examiner ascertains whether each question be cor- 
rectly answered, and if so, he places the proper num- 
ber of m.arks to the credit of the candidate. If the 
answers be defective, he makes a proportionate deduc- 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 2 1 

tion, according to his own judgment. At the end of 
the whole examination, these marks are added up, and 
the places of the candidates arranged accordingly. 

The successful candidates for mathematical honours 
are arranged in three classes, called wranglers, senior 
optimes and junior optimes ; the origin of which names 
is not well known. 

In a few weeks after the mathematical honours are 
fixed, a fresh contest begins for classical honours, 
among those who have obtained places in the former. 

The examination embraces the whole range of clas- 
sical literature, (except original composition, which is 
elsewhere provided for) and the successful candidates 
are arranged in three classes. 

Those who do not obtain honours are also arranged 
numerically, according to merit. 

There are, in the university, many other classical 
honours, open to free competition. The principal are 
the university scholarships, open to all undergradu- 
ates, and the prize essays and odes in Greek, Latin, 
and English. 

There is a debating society, among the undergrad- 
uates, which is connived at, but is entirely under 
university control. No discussions are introduced, 
touching any events having occurred within the last 
twenty years. 

The general discipline of the university is managed 
by the vice-chancellor and the heads of houses. 
They have absolute power, as far as the expulsion 
of any person in statu pupillari ; a power which is 
seldom used, except in cases of gross misconduct. 

The text books principally used in mathematical 
and physical science, are 

Algebra, — Wood, Peacock, Bourdon. 

Euclid. 



22 



REPORT ON 



Trigonometry — Hind. 

Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, 

by Airy. 
Snowball. 

Syllabus, by Peacock. 
Much of the substance of 
Woodhouse, in MS. 
Analytical Geometry — Hamilton's Conic Sections of 

three dimensions, by Hy- 
mers. 
Differential Calculus — Boucharlat. 

Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. 
Lagrange, Calcul des Fonc- 

tions. 
La Croix. 

La Croix, Boucharlat. 
Hymers, Garnier. 
Differential Equations — Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. 

Garnier, Ottley. 
Poisson, last edition. 
Whewell. 

Poinsot's Theory of Couples. 
Poisson Mechanique, above 

mentioned. 
Whewell on the motion of a 

point. 
WhewelPs three first sections 
of Newton. 
(Whewell's Dynamics on the motion of rigid sys- 
tems is just about to be republished in an improved 
form.) 

Newton's Principia is a text book. The greater 
part of the first, and much of the third volume are 
usually read ; but the form in which they are now 
read, is principally found in MS. 



Integral Calculus 



Mechanics- 



Dynamics- 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 



23 



Hydrostatics — 

Optics — 
Physical Optics- 



Astronomy. 



Poisson, work above men- 
tioned. 

Coddington. 

Airy, in his tracts. 

Herschell, in Encyclopaedia 
Metropolitana. 



Plane — Woodhouse. 

Maddy's Astronomy, edited 
by Hymers. 
Physical — Airy's Tracts. 
Pontecoulant. 

Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. 

Mrs. Somerville's Mechanism 

of the Heavens ; founded on 

La Place's Mechanique 

Celeste. 

Figure of the Earth — Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, 

by Airy. 
Airy's Tracts. 
Sound — Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. 

The mathematical part of the Encyclopaedia Metro- 
politana is published separately. 

In the'course of mathematical reading, much infor- 
mation is communicated in MS., which has been 
collected by the tutors from various sources, and ar- 
ranged in a manner best adapted to be produced at 
the examinations, all of which are conducted in writ- 
ing. 

The University professors deliver courses of lec- 
tures in physical science, which are entirely oral. 
Professor Airy, for instance, delivers every year a 
course of lectures upon mechanics, hydrostatics and op- 
tics, illustrating the principles by actual experiment, 
with a complete apparatus. In hydrodynamics and 



24 REPORT ON 

optics his course is particularly valuable ; as the hy- 
drodynamical part exhibits the effect of fluids in mo- 
tion ; and the optical part embraces all the most re- 
cent discoveries relating to the polarization of light, 
the doctrine of interferences, and the application of 
the undulatory theory to the explanation of the phe- 
nomena. 

Professor Parish gives a course of lectures on the 
application of mechanics to the arts and manufactures 
of Great Britain ; illustrating his subject by very 
ingenious models, exhibiting many of the machines 
in action. 

The Hamiltonian method of instruction is not in 
use in the university. 



A DESCRIPTION 



UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 

The University of Oxford is a corporate body, 
known by the style or title of The Chancellor, Mas- 
ters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford ; a title 
w^hich was confirmed by the legislature in the reign 
of Elizabeth. 

It has always been governed -by statutes of its own 
making, which were for a long time v/ithout order or 
arrangement ; but during the chancellorship of Arch- 
bishop Laud, a digested code, called " Corpus Statu to- 
rum Universitatis Oxoniensis," was compiled by spe- 
cial delegates, was ratified in convocation, and still 
remains in force, except upon points where modern 
exigencies have made amendment or abrogation neces- 
sary. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 25 

The whole business of the university in its corpo- 
rate capacity, is transacted in two distinct assemblies, 
called the House of Congregation, and the House qf 
Convocation, 

The chancellor, or the vice-chancellor, or one of the 
four deputy-vice-chancellors,* and the two proctors, 
or their respective deputies,! preside in both houses, 
where their presence is necessary. 

The house of congregation consists wholly of ?^- 
gents ; either necessary regents^ or regents ad placi- 
turn. By the phrase necessary regents, the statutes 
designate all doctors of every faculty and masters of 
arts, during the first year of their regency. By re- 
gents ad placitum, are meant all persons of the follow- 
ing descriptions who have gone through the year of 
their necessary regency ; viz. all doctors of every fa- 
culty, resident in the university ; all heads of colleges 
and halls, and, in their absence, their deputies; all 
professors and public lecturers ; the masters of the 
schools ; the public examiners ; the deans and cen- 
sors of colleges ; and all other masters of arts, during 
the second year of their regency. 

The house of convocation, or, as it is sometimes 
called? the Great Congregation, consists both of regents 
and non-^regents. But the right of sitting and voting 
in that house is confined by the statutes to persons of 
the following descriptions : 

1. The chancellor, or vice-chancellor, and the two 
proctors, or their deputies. 

2. Doctors in divinity, medicine, or civil law, who 
are necessary regents ; and masters of arts, during the 
first year of their necessary regency. 

3. Heads of colleges and halls, and their deputies, 

* Called Pro-vice-ehancellors. 
f Called Pro-proctors. 

4 



26 



REPORT ON 



and members of the foundation of any college, who 
have been regents. 

4. Doctors in divinity, medicine or law, living with 
their families within the precincts of the university ; 
and professors and public lecturers who have been re- 
gents, provided they have performed all exercises, and 
paid all fees ; without the fulfilling of which condi- 
tions, no person, be his situation what it may, can 
vote in convocation. 

5. Convictores, that is, all persons not belonging to 
the foundation of any college or hall, who have been 
regents, and whose names have been constantly kept 
on the books of some college or hall, from the time of 
their admission to the degree of master of arts, or doc- 
tors in either of the three faculties respectively. 

Doctors and masters of arts, who have ceased to be 
members of the university, and afterwards return to 
it, or who have been incorporated from Cambridge or 
Dublin, after a residence of one hundred and eighty 
days ivithin the year, may claim to be admitted into 
the house. The same privilege may also be enjoyed 
by persons w ho have been admitted to the degree of 
master of arts, or doctor in either of the three faculties 
by diploma, or by decree of convocation ; but not 
by those who have been admitted merely to honorary 
degrees. 

The number of regents required to make a congre- 
gation is nine at the least, besides the vice-chancellor 
and proctors: but for a convocation no particular 
number of members is required. 

The business of congregation is principally confined 
to the passing of graces and dispensations, and to the 
granting of degrees. Upon all questions submitted to 
the house, the vice-chancellor singly, and the two 
proctors jointly, possess the power of an absolute ne- 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 27 

gative. In the sole instance of supplicating for graces, 
but in no other, every member of the house is invest- 
ed, in addition to his general right of suffrage, with a 
suspending negative upon each grace for three times, 
as the grace is proposed in three distinct congrega- 
tions ; but previously to the fourth supplication, he is 
required to state privately to the vice-chancellor and 
proctors the ground and proof of his objection, which 
are subsequently submitted to the judgment of the 
house for approbation or rejection. All suffrages for 
or against graces or dispensations in congregation, are 
to be whisper^ secretly in the ear of the proctor ; 
by a majority of which, given in the words placet or 
non placet, the fate of the measure is ultimately de- 
termined. 

The business of convocation is unlimited, extending 
to all subjects connected with the credit, interest and 
welfare of the university. 

As in congregation, so also in convocation, the 
chancellor or vice-chancellor singly, and the two 
proctors jointly, are officially invested with an abso- 
lute negative upon all proceedings, except in elec- 
tions. 

In both houses, when the negative of the vice-chtm- 
cellor, or of the proctors, is not interposed, (an event 
almost as rare as the royal veto in Parliament,) every 
question is decided by the majority. 

All elections (except for members of Parliament) 
are made by private scrutiny in writing, in which the 
vice-chancellor presides, and the two proctors are scru- 
tators. 

Before voting, each elector takes an oath, that he 
will only vote once in the scrutiny ; that he will nomi- 
nate a person whom he knows, or firmly believes, to 



28 REPORT ON 

be duly qualified for the office ; and that he will do 
this, without any reward, or expectation of reward. 

There is also a hebdomadal meeting held every 
Monday, which consists of the vice-chancellor, heads 
of houses and proctors, who have power to deliberate 
Upon all matters relating to the preservation of the 
privileges and liberties of the university, and to inquire 
intOj and consult respecting the due observance of stat- 
utes and customs. And in all cases, whenever it ap- 
pears to them that any particular measure would 
contribute to the literary improvement, the good 
government, the credit, or the advantage of the univer- 
sity, they have authority to deliberate upon it, in 
order that it may undergo a grave and serious discus- 
sion, before it be proposed in congregation, and decreed 
in convocation. 

Officers of the University. 

The Chancellor is elected by the members of con- 
vocation. This office was formerly triennial, some- 
times annual, and is now for life. Present incumbent, 
the Duke of Wellington* 

The High Steward, is appointed by the chancellor, 
and approved by convocation. He holds his office 
for life, and assists the chancellor, vice-chancellor and 
proctors in the execution of their duties. If required 
by the chancellor, he hears and determines capital 
causes, whenever a privileged person is the party of- 
fending; and either by himself or deputy, beholds the 
university-court-leet, at the appointment of the chan- 
cellor or vice-chancellor. Present incumbent. Lord 
Eldon. 

The Vice-Chancellor is annually nominated by 
the chancellor, from the heads of colleges. The nomi- 
nation is read in convocation, and if approved, the new 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 29 

vice-chancellor is sworn and admitted into office. He 
appoints four deputies, or pro-vice-chancellors, from 
the heads of colleges, w^ho exercise his power in case 
of his illness or absence. The office has lately been 
held for four years by annual nominations. 

The Burgesses* for the university are elected by 
the members of convocation, and are two in number. 

The Proctors are two masters of arts, of at least 
four years standing, and not more than ten from their 
regency, who are chosen out of the several colleges by 
turns, according to a cycle made out in the statutes 
given by King Charles L to regulate their election. 
They are elected by the common suffi^age of all doctors 
and masters of arts in their respective colleges. They 
take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and the 
the proctor's oath. They each nominate two masters 
of arts, to be their respective deputies, or pro-proc- 
tors. 

The presiding officers of the colleges and halls, are 
called Heads of Houses, and are called by the titles 
placed opposite to the names of their respective col- 
leges or halls, in the following list. 



University College, 


Master. 


Balliol 


a 


Master. 


Merton 


a 


Warden. 


Exeter 


a 


Perpetual Rector. 


Oriel 


a 


Provost. 


Queen's 


(( 


Provost. 


New 


a 


Warden. 


Lincoln 


a 


Rector. 


All-Souls 


a 


Warden. 


Magdalen 


a 


President. 


Brasen-Nose 


a 


Principal. 



* Members of Parliament. 



30 







REPORT ON 




Corpus Christi 


College 


President. 


Christ Church 


« 


Dean. 


Trinity 




a 


President. 


St. John's 




a 


President. 


Jesus 




a 


Principal. 


Wadham 




a 


Warden. 


Pembroke 
Worcester 






Master. 
Provost. 


Alban 


Hall 


Principal. 



Edmund " " 

St. Mary " " 

New Inn 
Magdalen " " 

The following professorships exist in the University 
of Oxford. 

Regius Professorships of Divinity, Civil Law, 
Medicine, Hebrew, and Greek, were founded by King 
Henry VHL, to each of which he assigned a yearly 
stipend of forty pounds. To the professorship of divi- 
nity has since been annexed a canonry of Christ 
Church College, and the rectory of Ewelme, Oxford- 
shire ; to that of civil law a lay-prebend in the Cathe- 
dral of Salisbury ; to that of medicine, the mastership 
of the Hospital at Ewelme ; and to that of Hebrew, a 
canonry of Christ Church College. The canonries of 
Christ Church College, which are eight in number, 
are each worth from twelve to twenty-two hundred 
pounds per annum. 

The Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity, 
founded by the mother of King Henry VH. Stipend 
formerly twenty marks, since increased by a prebend 
in Worcester Cathedral. The election which is bien- 
nial is vested in the graduates of divinity. 

The Professorship of Natural Philosophy, was 
founded by Sir William Sedley, and by him endowed 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 31 

forever with a landed estate worth one hundred and 
twenty pounds per annum. Electors, the vice-chan- 
cellor, the president of Magdalen, and the warden of 
AU-Souls. 

The Savilian Professorships of Geometry and 
Astronomy, were founded and endowed by Sir Henry 
Saville in 1619; and they are open to persons of every 
nation, w^ho are of good reputation, well versed in ma- 
thematics, have some knowledge of Greek, and are 
twenty-six years of age. The electors and visiters 
are the archbishop of Canterbury, the lord chancel- 
lor of England, the chancellor of the university, the 
bishop of London, the principal secretary of state, 
the chief justices, the chief baron of the exchequer, and 
the dean of the arches ; whom the founder solemnly 
conjures to seek for the ablest mathematicians in other 
countries as well as in Britain; and, without regard 
to particular universities or nations, to elect those 
whom they shall deem best qualified for the office. 

The Professorship of Moral Philosophy, was 
founded in 1621, by Thomas White, D.D., who en- 
dowed it with a salary of £100 per annum. The pro- 
fessor is elected every fifth year by the vice-chancel- 
lor and proctors for the time being, the dean of Christ 
Church, and the presidents of Magdalen and St. 
John's. 

The Camden Professorship of Ancient History, 
was founded by Wm. Camden in 1622, who endowed 
it with the manor of Bexley in Kent. 

The Pr^lectorship of Anatomy, was founded by 
Richard Tomlins, and by his appointment, holden by 
the regius professor of medicine. 

The Professorship of Music, was found in 1626, 
by William Heather, Doc. Mus. The office is annual, 
and the appointment is vested in the proctors. He 



32 REPORT ON 

also made provision for the practice of music, and es- 
tablished a fund for the payment of a Choragus, or 
. Praefectus Musicae Exercitationis. 

The Laudian Professorship of Arabic, was foun- 
ded and endowed with lands in 1636, by William 
Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

The Botanical Garden was founded by the Earl 
ofDanby in 1632. 

The Sherardian Professorship of Botany, was 
founded in 1728, by William Sherard, D. C. L. who 
bequeathed to the University his library and very va- 
luable herbarium, and £3000 for the endowment of a 
professorship of botany. 

There is also a Regius Professorship of Botany. 

The Professorship of Poetry, was founded by 
Henry Birkhead about 1707. The professor is elected 
by members of convocation for five years, and may be 
re-elected for five years more. 

The Regius Professorship of Modern History 
and Modern Languages, was founded by King George 
I. in 1724, and confirmed by King George II. in 1728. 

The Anglo-Saxon Professorship, was founded by 
Richard Rawlinson in 1750, and endowed by him 
with some fee-farm rents. It becomes vacant every 
five years, and the colleges furnish candidates by turns, 
and the professor is elected by the members of convo- 
cation, and must be unmarried during his incumbency, 
and must not be a native of Scotland, Ireland, nor of 
any of the plantations abroad, nor be a member of the 
Royal or Antiquarian Societies. 

The Vinerian Professorship of Common Law, was 
founded by Charles Viner, Esq. in 1755, who gave by 
will to the University £12,000, to endow fellowships 
and scholarships in the Common Law. At present 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 33 

there are two Vinerian fellows and five scholars ; the 
former have annual stipends of £50, and the latter 
£30. 

The Clinical Professorship in the Radcliffe In- 
firmary, was founded by the Earl of Lichfield, chan- 
cellor of the university, who died in 1772. 

The Lord Almoner's Reader in Arabic, is ap- 
pointed by the Lord Almoner, and the stipend paid 
out of the Almonry bounty. 

The Aldrichian Professorships of Anatomy, of 
the Practice of Medicine, and of Chemistry, were 
founded in 1803, under the will of Doctor George Al- 
drich. 

The Professorship of Political Economy, was 
founded in 1825, by Henry Drummond, Esq., and en- 
dowed by him wdth a yearly rent charge of £100. 

The Boden Professorship of Sanscrit, was foun- 
ded by the late Colonel Joseph Boden, of the East In- 
dia Company's Service ; who, for that purpose, be- 
queathed his whole estate to the University, being of 
opinion, that a more general and critical knowledge 
of the Sanscrit Language, will he a means of enabling 
his countrymen to proceed to the conversion of the na- 
tives of India to the Christian Religion, by disseminat-^ 
ing a knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures amongst 
them more effectually than all other means whatever. 

This professorship is under strict regulations, con- 
firmed by the Court of Chancery in 1830, to insure a 
regular delivery of the lectures ; and the annual salary 
is limited to £1000. Colonel Boden also founded four 
Sanscrit Scholarships, with annual stipends of £50 
each. 

The Lecture in Anatomy, was founded about 1750, 
by Doctor Matthew Lee. 

The Reader in Experimental Philosophy. 

(Grant from the Crown.) 

5 



34 report on 

The Reader in Mineralogy. 

(Grant from the Crown.) 

The Reader in Geology. 

(Grant from the Crownv) 

The University also has the following officers : 

The Public Orator, who is the voice of the Uni- 
versity on public occasions, &c. 

The Bodleian Librarian, under librarians and as- 
sistants. 

The Keeper of the Archives. 

The Curators of the Theatre, a splendid building 
in which the public meetings of the university are 
held. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren, at the 
expense of Gilbert Sheldon^ Archbishop of Canter- 
bury. 

The Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. 

The Registrar of the University. 

The Registrar of the University Court. 

Two Clerks of the Market. 

The Bampton Lecturer. This lecture was foun- 
ded by John Bampton, Canon of Salisbury, who di- 
rected by his will, that the lecturer shall be annually 
chosen by the heads of colleges only, on the first Tues- 
day in Easter, to preach eight divinity lecture ser- 
mons the year following. The same person cannot 
be elected twice. The lectures have been delivered 
annually since 1780. 

The Public Examiners are seven, of whom four 
are in Literis Humanioribus, and three in Disciplinis 
Mathematicis et Physicis, and who are chosen out of 
the masters of arts or bachelors of civil law, and can- 
not continue in office more than two years. The 
masters of the schools are three, of whom one is nomi- 
nated in convocation by the vice-chancellor, and one 
by each of the proctors, annually. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 35 

The University Sermons, are preached every Sun- 
day morning during term (with some exceptions) by 
the heads of colleges, the dean and canons of Christ 
Church, the two professors of divinity, and the pro- 
fessor of Hebrew, who officiate in turn, according to 
an established cycle. 

There are ten select preachers, five of whom go out 
of office every year. 

There are four terms in the year, viz. 

1. Michaelmas Term, which begins on the 10th Oc- 
tober, and ends on the 17th December. 

2. Hilary Term, which begins on the 14th Janu- 
ary, and ends the day before Palm Sunday. 

3. Easter Term, which begins on the 10th day af- 
ter Easter Sunday, and ends on the day before Whit- 
sunday, 

4. Trinity Term, which begins on the Wednesday 
after Whitsunday, and ends on the Saturday after the 
first Tuesday in July, 

Undergraduates keep Michaelmas and Hilary 
Terms, by six weeks residence in each, and Easter 
and Trinity Terms, by three weeks in each. 

A residence of three weeks in each term is suffi- 
cient for bachelors of arts keeping terms for a mas- 
ter's degree. 

Sixteen terms are required for the degree of bache- 
lor of arts ; but of these, the Day of Matriculation, if 
it be in term, counts for one, and the day of admis- 
sion to a bachelor's degree for another, and two more 
are dispensed with by congregation ; so that, in point 
of fact, residence is necessary for tivelve terms only. 

From the time of admission to a bachelor's degree, 
twelve terms are computed, before the bachelor can 
be admitted to the degree of master of arts ; but ac- 
tual residence is necessary for one term only. 



36 REPORT ON 

For a bachelor's degree in civil law three years are 
required, to be calculated from the regency ; and for a 
doctor's, four years more. 

For the degree of bachelor in medicine, one year 
from the regency; and for a doctor's, three years 
more. 

For a degree of bachelor in divinity, seven years 
from the regency ; and for a doctor's, four years more. 

University Exercises for the Degree of Bachelor 
OF Arts. 

1. Responsions; that is, to answer questions pub- 
licly proposed by the masters of the schools. 

The days for the beginning of this exercise are, in 
Michaelmas Term the 26th of October; in Hilary 
Term, the Wednesday after Septuagesima Sunday ; 
and in Trinity Term, the Monday after the first Sun- 
day. Those who wish to respond, must give their 
names to the junior proctor, at least three days before 
the exercise commences. 

The respondents must have entered their sixth 
term, and must not have completed their ninth. 

No one is allowed to respond, unless he has pre- 
viously attended the exercise once at least ; of which 
attendance he must produce a certificate granted by 
one of the masters of the schools. 

The respondents are examined in the Greek and 
Latin languages, (chiefly with a view to their gram- 
matical construction,) in the rudiments of logic, or in 
Euclid's Elements of Geometry. Not more than eight 
candidates can be examined in the same day. 

2. The Public Examinations, which are held twice 
a year; in Michaelmas Term, beginning on the 2nd 
day of November ; and in Easter Term, beginning on 
the Friday which follows the second Sunday after 
Easter. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 37 

At least six days before the examination begins, the 
candidates must give to the senior proctor, their 
names, and lists of the books and sciences in which 
they are prepared to be examined, a testimonium of 
having responded before the masters of the schools, 
and a certificate of having been present at the exami- 
nations one day preceding their own examination. 

No person can be examined before the beginning of 
the fourth year from his matriculation ; except such 
as are allowed to take their degree at three years 
standing. 

The examination comprises, 

1. The Rudiments of Religion ; under which head 
is required a competent knowledge of the Gospels in 
the original Greek — of the History of the Old and 
New Testament — of the 39 Articles of the Church of 
England — and of the Evidences of Religion, natural 
and revealed. ** 

2. The Liters Humaniores ; under which head is 
comprised a sufficient acquaintance with the Greek 
and Latin languages and ancient history — with rheto- 
ric and poetry — with moral and political science, as 
derived from the ancient Greek and Roman writers, 
and illustrated from modern authors — with logic — 
and with composition. The candidates are examined 
in the following books, in Greek; Aristotle's Ethics 
as the text-book for moral science ; Aristotle's Rheto- 
ric ; Aristotle's Postils or Politics, or some work of 
Plato; Herodotus; Thucydides; Xenophon; Demos- 
thenes sometimes; one or two books of Polybius; 
uEschylus; Sophocles; Euripides or Aristophanes; 
Pindar or Homer ; and in Latin, two decades of Livy ; 
Horace; Virgil; Lucretius or Plautus or Terence; 
and Tacitus or some portion of Cicero. The paper 
examination lasts five days, and comprises ethical and 
historical essays and rhetorical exercises ; critical and 



38 REPORT ON 

logical questions, and translations into Latin and 
Greek prose ; verse is optional. 

3. The Elements of the Mathematical Sciences 
AND OF Physics. The candidates are examined in the 
undermentioned authors. 
Geometry, . . Euclid. 
Algebraic Geometry, Lardner, Hamilton, Young. 
Algebra, • . Wood, Hind. 

Trigonometry, . Hind, Woodhouse, Lardner. 

Differential and Integ- ) T- . ^^ „. . 

ral Calculus, I ^^'^''^'' ^^""g' ^'^^' 

Mechanics, . . Whewell, Walker. 
Astronomy, . • Maddy, Woodhouse. 
Optics, . . Coddington, Lloyd. 

Hydrostatics, • Bland, Vince. 

With regard to the examination in some parts of 
the Liters) Humaniores, and oCthe mathematical sci- 
ences, and of physics, the examiners have a discretion- 
ary power. Not so with respect to the rudiments of 
religion, and any failure in this part of the examina- 
tion j^recZz^des the candidate from his degree, no matter 
how great his other attainments. 

After the examination, the names of those candi- 
dates who have honourably distinguished themselves, 
are distributed into four classes,* in alphabetical or- 
der, under the two great divisions of Liter^e Hu- 
maniores, and DiSCIPLINJE MATHEMATICiE ET PhYSIC^E, 

according to the following schedule. 

Nomina Candidatorum Termino A. D. qui 

honore digni sunt habiti. 

In Literis Humanioribus. ^^ Disciplinis Mathematicis 

et Physicis. 

Classisl. |^:S.iS&,. A.B.eColl. 

* Indicating- four grades of merit. 



OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 39 

( A. B. e Coll. ( A T! X n^ii 

Classis II. 5 C, D. e Coll. F' ^' ^ n u 

(E.F.eColl.&c. <C.D.eCoIl. 

fcE'hCoU S^.B.eColl. 

Classis III. <^ '^^' j^' > ^11* < C. D. e Coll. 

LG. H. e Coll. ifec. (E.F.eColl. 

^1 • TV i ^- B. e Coll. 5 A. B. e Coll. 

l^lassislV. ^ c. D. e Coll. i&c. |c. D. eColl. 

Summa Quintce Classis sive ojeterorum omnium qui 
Examinatoribus satisfecerunt 

xxxx. 

The fifth class gives the number, without mention- 
ing the names, of those who, having obtained their tes- 
timonium, are not deemed worthy of any honourable 
distinction, but worthy of degrees. 

Of this schedule, printed copies are sent to the 
chancellor, to the vice-chancellor, to the heads of 
houses, to the proctors, and to the refectory and com- 
mon room of each college and hall. 

For a bachelor's de^ee in the superior faculties of 
law, medicine or divinity, disputations are enjoined 
upon two distinct days before the professors of the 
respective faculties. 

In divinity, it is also required, to preach a Latin 
sermon at St. Mary's church, before the vice-chancellor. 

For a doctor^ s degree in either faculty, three distinct 
lectures are to be read in the schools. 

The two universities seem to differ less in their sys- 
tems of study, than in the objects of their application; 
the Literae Humaniores occupying the greatest space 
at Oxford, whilst at Cambridge greater attention is 
bestowed upon the Disciplinae MathematicaeetPhysicae. 

In the college course of study, the public tutors 
seem to occupy a similar position to that filled by the 



40 REPORT ON 



xDi^MKY uf- CONGRESS 



028 334 680 8 



professors in our colleges, teaching the student by the 
mixed mode of oral question and explanation. 

The government of a college resides in its head and 
a certain number of senior fellows, who make laws for 
its regulation, taking care not to contravene the para- 
mount laws of the university ; and the undergradu- 
ates undergo college examinations once or twice a year. 

At Cambridge all those who obtain degrees of 
bachelor of arts, are arranged numerically in the or- 
der of merits in lists which are hung up for public in* 
spection. 

At Oxford a different plan is followed : the names 
of those who distinguish themselves are arranged 
on a printed list in four classes, according to four 
grades of honourable distinction; but the names in 
each class are arranged alphabetically. The remain- 
der who succeed in obtaining the degree of B. A., 
constitute the fifth class, of which the number of stu- 
dents is mentioned on the list, without their names. 
Previous to 1807, the members of the first class of 
honour were arranged according to the order of merit. 

Both at Oxford and Cambridge, the principle of ro- 
tation obtains with respect to the university offices. 
The vice-chancellors are chosen annually from the 
heads of colleges ; and most of the other university 
officers hold their appointments for limited periods of 
not long duration. Many of the public professors and 
lecturers are chosen for terms of years. This has the 
effect of keeping alive a wholesome emulation among 
the members of the colleges, whose heads are chosen 
for life, and whose fellows hold their situations for 
very long periods. 

This blending of the principle of change in the uni^ 
versities, with that of permanence in the colleges, 
seems to have the happy effect of keeping the oflfices 
in these institutions constantly filled with able, indus- 
trious and useful incumbents. 



